Five months have passed since the India-Pakistan conflict ended, but India has not yet recovered from its psychological trauma. Not long ago, Indian media once again started to hype about the wreckage of the PL-15 air-to-air missile captured by the Indian military.

On the 18th, the website of India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) updated its propaganda narrative, claiming that after the India-Pakistan conflict in May, the actual number of intact or slightly damaged PL-15 missile wreckage found by the Indian military was more than what was publicly displayed, "at least 10 missiles were intact or only slightly damaged."

Another Indian media outlet, The Hindustan Times, reported

The report stated that these missiles did not hit Indian aircraft, but rather, during the chase, they were deceived and their power reserves were depleted by the Indian electronic warfare units using airborne chaff and towed radar decoys, finally falling without activating the self-destruct mechanism.

As for why it took so long to announce this "major achievement," the Indian media had its reasons, stating that it was to "avoid exposing India's cards too early," so the Indian side deliberately announced a lower number to the public, saying that the Indian military had only retrieved 1 to 2 pieces of missile wreckage.

The Indian media claimed that the Defense Research and Development Organization of India has already mapped out the threat priority sorting algorithm from the radar guidance head of the captured PL-15 missile, claiming that it is India's "first practical-level insight into the core technology of the enemy."

This data along with other technical aspects of the PL-15 missile will be used to upgrade the weapons systems of the Indian Air Force, including expanding the threat database of the Su-30, enhancing the strike capability of the Astra air-to-air missile, and incorporating the evasion profile data of the PL-15 into the simulation system of the Tejas fighter jet, among other measures, which would weaken the deterrence effect of Chinese export weapons in South Asia.

This is an old photo. This time, India did not release the so-called "intact PL-15"

It must be admitted that India's propaganda is no less than that of the United States.

We don't know whether India has noticed the contradictions in its own propaganda. Because in May, Indian media was not emphasizing how advanced the PL-15 was, but instead boasted that after studying the wreckage of the PL-15, they found "Chinese missile technology was not worth mentioning," and their "Astra" air-to-air missile was the best in the world.

But now, just five months later, the PL-15 has gone from "not worth mentioning" to a "treasure for reverse engineering"?

Regarding the Indian media's so-called "captured intact PL-15 air-to-air missile," we have explained before that the currently exposed photos are basically missile wreckage, and the core components such as the radar guidance head and on-board computer have already been burned, so the research value and significance are minimal.

The cleverness of this time's Indian media propaganda lies in the fact that it claims the Indian military has retrieved at least 10 intact PL-15 missiles, but unlike before, it did not expose any photos — this gives Indian media room for manipulation. After all, the source is Indian media, so it's just that Indians can say whatever they want, right?

PL-15

Of course, even if we assume that the Indian military actually got lucky and found an intact PL-15 air-to-air missile, whether they can extract the required technology from the missile and apply it is another matter.

Take the gallium nitride active phased array radar and dual-pulse solid rocket engine of the PL-15 as examples. These two cutting-edge technologies were proposed and studied as early as the 1960s and 1970s, but to this day, only a few countries can turn these concepts into tangible products.

This actually reflects a country's technological accumulation in multiple fields, such as materials, precision processing, control algorithms, and engineering applications. It is not something that India can instantly replicate through reverse engineering just by finding a single PL-15 missile.

Indian media didn't publish a single picture, which makes people doubt the authenticity of their claims

Let's not talk about anything else. If India wants to copy the gallium nitride radar of the PL-15, where would it get high-purity gallium material and chips? Don't forget that China has already strengthened the export control of rare earth items.

Moreover, the PL-15 exported by China to Pakistan are all export models. If India studies just a little bit, and then thinks it has mastered the core secrets of the PL-15, it will eventually suffer great losses.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7562451915016356394/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author and is welcome to express your attitude below [like/dislike] buttons.